


Calming

by Fek



Series: Vidow Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, angry shadow, at the end, calm vio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fek/pseuds/Fek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A nice prompt from someone on tumblr, except I didn't listen and instead of grumpy I substituted murderous rage.</p><p>Vio wants to be alone. But Shadow is upset and takes priority. Comfort and fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Calming

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadow_baby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadow_baby/gifts).



Vio is reading peacefully in his room, far, far away from any possible disruptions when _it_ occurs. It had been the first time he had found peace and quiet after a very gruelling and mentally exasperating outing with his friends and he felt as though he had deserved a break. Unfortunately, the Goddesses believed otherwise.

He hears _it_ coming down the hall, footsteps loud like drums advancing at the front of a war, and he audibly sighs. He hears the slam of his door open into the wall, and the following _bam_ of it being kicked shut again. The footsteps behind him are pacing back and forth with no purpose or direction, only existing to presumably express anger in the form of noise. He knows who it is immediately; his ears are very sensitive to what sounds belong to which Link. Shadow isn’t speaking, merely making various short sounds of frustration: snarling, grunting, and syllables of screams that he’s at least attempting to choke back. Vio’s first instinct is to say something along the lines of _the amount that I can be bothered to care is equivalent to how much I can read with my eyes closed._ But then he turns to look.

Shadow isn’t just throwing a temper tantrum, he’s beyond enraged. His fangs are bared and the anger in his eyes is the same manic pain as when they first met him. He’s rapidly curling and uncurling his hands from fists, nails leaving crescents in his palms like talons. They come up to pull his hat over his eyes, only to shove it back up and grab at his hair. His hat, in turn, begins to lash angrily around him, his feet start coming off the ground like he’s being pulled up by marionette strings. For a millisecond, there’s a shadow of doubt in Vio’s mind that he can’t help him when he’s so furious.

But then he remembers that Shadow came here for a reason. He closes the book and leaves it to be forgotten on his pillow.

“Shadow…” He says gently, reaching out his hand.

His entire body suddenly rotates to face Vio, fists thrown down to his sides as he shifts his posture to attack. “What?” He snaps. He’s breathing heavily, and there is murder radiating from his body. But Vio sees his eyes are unfocused as if he’s not able to ground himself in reality.

“Shadow.” He tries again, this time more firmly. “Come here.” He rises from his lounging position and takes a cautious step towards danger. Shadow relaxes slightly, still taking breaths in far deeper than necessary. Vio blinks only once, eyes trained on his goal. “It’s okay, Shadow, just come here.” He takes another step forward, arms open.

Shadow takes an uncertain step closer to him, heel floating upwards slightly as he removes weight from it. His hat, though mostly still, twitches as Shadow tries to focus on simply moving. He looks up at Vio, and then he’s running into his arms, knocking him back. Vio welcomes him, pulling him closer the second they touch. His skull hits the wall with a dull _thud,_ but other than a soft grunt it goes completely ignored. Instead, Vio presses a soft kiss to the top of his head. He flicks off the hat and runs his hands through messy hair, rubbing Shadow affectionately with his cheek when he feels him bury his face into his neck.

Shadow is still seething anger, but now his hands are curling in Vio’s tunic rather than empty air and he’s slowing down and breathing rather than spitting half-formed curses. Vio continues to soothe him, whispering sweet things to him as he twirls his fingers through purple.

“Sshh….”

“You’re okay.”

“I’m here.”

“You’ll be fine.”

  
“I love you.”

 

Eventually, Shadow pops his head out for his hiding place and props himself up. Vio stares at him, eyes calm and wide and waiting for the other to either move away or return. Shadow blushes as he scoots down and crosses his arms over Vio’s chest, pouting and averting his gaze. Vio’s huffs and his hands continue to play.

“What’s up?” A smile only just barely traces his lips: gentle and forgiving.

“I want to burn the entire country.” Shadow snorts.

Vio feels his eyebrow twitch in curiosity and his smile fade into a frown. “What _happened_ while we were gone?”

“The people in the village are all asshats.” Vio flicks him as if to say _don’t generalise._ Shadow glares before continuing. “They say stuff like I’m _just_ the Shadow Link or-- or-- I’ll never be good,” Vio can feel him tensing again, “And I have to work twice as hard just to be _accepted_ just because I look different from you guys, and even the knights think I’m useless and stupid because I can’t use a sword like you guys, and they treat me like I’m-- I’m a copy of a copy. And kids in the village knows how much it pisses me off, but I can’t do anything to them because then _I’m_ the bad guy and--”

“The knights don’t think you’re useless or stupid,” Vio interjects, severing the train of thought before Shadow can get riled up again. “They think your pranks are annoying, but that’s entirely your own fault.”

Shadow scowls. “Yeah, but in Castle Town--”

“I know.” He says, clenching a fist in Shadow’s tunic. “I know, but we can’t change them.”

Shadow grunts and buries his face in Vio’s chest again.

“You’re getting better with a sword. And you are good, even if they don’t know it.”

He is met with silence.

“You are. You saved all of Hyrule.”

“If you think about it, you’re more original than any of us.”

This time, Shadow looks up to make a face. Vio blinks at him and looks at the ceiling as if he’s looking into a diagram of his evidence. “Well, you were technically alive from the moment the original Link cast a shadow, which is to say at birth, even if it wasn’t in this world. That being said, if we look at the timeline as a linear series of events, then you existed long before we got split up. So… you’re more original.” He concludes by patting Shadow’s head. He knows that Shadow needed to hear something like that, that inside he feels like his soul is buzzing happily even if he remains silent.

“Even so, being original or not doesn’t dictate your worth,” Vio clarifies, “I really wish I had some kind of magic to make people see you how we see you, but trust me: just being you is enough.”

Apparently, it was the right thing to say. Shadow’s eyes are honest and dilated as he leans up again, blushing furiously. His mouth is in a little ‘o’ shape, which morphs into the wide, mischievous grin that plucks at Vio’s heart and he can feel his own cheeks heating up at the sight. Usually, neither are quite so emotional, but they’ve both had a shit day and there’s no one around to judge their rare moments of happiness. Shadow ducks down to kiss him, smiling and finding time to breathe between pecks and more-than-pecks.

“I fucking love you.”

“Love you too--” Shadow presses their mouths together.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how well I did about keeping them %100 in character, but I think I did a decent job.


End file.
